Answers and Explanations to the Social Psychology
Quiz
1. When we make attributions about the behavior of others
(trying to determine why others act they way the do), we often overestimate
dispositional influences (personality factors) and underestimate situational
influences. When we do this, we are demonstrating the:
Jonas Complex
fundamental attribution error
cognitive dissonance
proximal error
Correct Answer = fundamental attribution
error
Explanation = let's say you have a friend, Bob. One day
you are walking down the street and you see Bob coming your way. As you approach,
you say hello to Bob, but Bob just glances at you and keeps on walking. How
do you respond to this? Do you say, "what a jerk"? If so, you are
making the fundamental attribution error. Your statement implies that Bob's
behavior was a reflection of himself, who Bob is as a person, one might even
say, his personality or disposition. However, it is possible that Bob was having
a bad day and was so focused on his day, that he didn't really recognize you.
This is a common occurrence when people attempt to attribute the behavior of
others (or figure out why people act the way they do); they underestimate situational
forces and overestimate dispositional ones.
2. Sometimes people change their behaviors to coincide
with the request or behavior of others, even though they may disagree with this
new behavior. When they do this, they are engaging in:
acceptance
compliance
conformity
submission
Correct Answer = compliance
Explanation = the key to understanding compliance is the
phrase, "even though they may disagree with this new behavior." When
people change their behavior in response to a request from others but agree
with the new behavior, they are engaging in conformity. It is whether the person
really believes in the perspective, behavior, etc. that determines if the change
is considered conformity or compliance.
3. Research has indicated that people are more likely to
conform when the group is all of the following EXCEPT:
unanimous
cohesive
three people or more
aggressive
Correct Answer = aggressive
Explanation = conformity occurs for many reasons, but the
aggressiveness of the group is not one of them. A group is more powerful when
there are more than three people (although there is also a limit - once there
are more than a certain number of people, it just doesn't matter how many more
there are), is cohesive, and is unanimous. These factors make a group difficult
to go against. However, when the members of the group don't seem cohesive or
unanimous on a topic, they are less influential.
4. Research has shown that, in general, the more familiar
we are with a person, even if we have never met them in person, the more likely
we are to:
like them
dislike them
understand them
want to be like them
Correct Answer = like them
Explanation = we like what we know, and we know what we
are familiar with. For example, research has shown that people prefer mirror
images of themselves more than pictures of themselves. This is because we are
used to looking in the mirror at ourselves and have become accustomed (or familiar)
with that image. However, a picture is an image of us from an angle we are not
used to seeing, and thus we are less familiar with it and like it less. The
same is true for how we view other people. Think about the television shows
you watch and the characters on them. You become used to seeing these characters
and may even come to the point where you feel like you know them, and like them.
5. Recently the county sent some workers to my house to
remove a tree. Although six men showed up to do this job, three of them worked
the whole time, one worked a little bit, and the other two just sat and watched
the entire time. This type of behavior is known as _______, and is a phenomenon
in which each individual in a group puts in less effort than if he/she were
acting alone.
effort justification
social effort
social loafing
group polarization
Correct Answer = social loafing
Explanation = sometimes, people work harder when there
are other people around. However, there are also times when having other people
results in less effort by each person, or social loafing. Social loafing may
occur because the members of the group assume that the other members will do
more of the work and are responsible for the work. In essence, people in groups
seem to get lazier than individuals.
6. People who are perceived as being physically attractive
are also often viewed as more intelligent, more kind, and more successful. This
is called:
dissonance
the halo effect
social comparison
conformity
Correct Answer = halo effect
Explanation = there are social benefits that come with
being physically attractive. This is not to say that people think, at a conscious
level, "this person is attractive, so they are probably also smart, funny,
etc.". Rather, it is more of a social perception that occurs without our
complete awareness. How often do you see, for example, ugly anchormen (anchorpeople?)?
These people are often viewed as, not only attractive, but intelligent (even
though it is not uncommon for their jobs to be only reading off of a teleprompter),
successful, and personable. While it is possible that this is all true, we do
not know this but assume that all of these things are true because they are
attractive.
7. Carl Festinger found that feelings of tension arise
when one is simultaneously aware of two inconsistent cognitions (e.g., dating
someone even though you think that person is mean and selfish). He called this:
cognitive dissonance
cognitive compliance
cognitive conformity
cognitive obsolescence
Correct Answer = cognitive dissonance
Explanation = the first clue that the correct answer is
cognitive dissonance should have been that all the other options are phony (we
made them all up). Beyond that, cognitive dissonance is one of the most well
known constructs in social psychology. Festinger studied this construct by having
people perform a boring task and paying them either $1 or $20 for it. Then,
the participants were asked to tell the next participant (a phony participant
- member of the research team) that the task they are about to engage in is
really fun. Festinger found that the people who got paid $1 were more likely
to say that the task was great than those who got $20. According to Festinger,
the reason for this is that all of the participants found the task boring, so
it would be dissonant (inconsistent cognitions) to then say how much fun it
was. This dissonance causes tension, and in order to reduce the tension the
participants who got paid $1 would convince themselves that they really did
enjoy the task. However, those who got paid $20 did not have any dissonance;
they could say that the task was boring, but who cares since they got paid for
it. These people did not have any consistency; there was no reason to wonder
about it, feel bad about wasting their time, etc., because they got paid good
money to perform a boring task - that makes sense, but spending time doing a
boring task, getting paid almost nothing for it, and then having to lie about
it? Now that is a problem.
8. I recently saw a woman fall down while walking on a
crowded street. She stayed on the ground for quite a while and appeared to be
hurt. However, nobody offered her any help. According to the ________, this
woman would have been more likely to get help if there was only one other person
around when she fell.
cognitive dissonance
prosocial effect
bystander effect
aggressive theory
Correct Answer = bystander effect
Explanation = it is interesting that most people assume
that in a helping situation, the more people around the more likely someone
will help (or know how to help, offer to help, care to help, etc.). However,
research has shown that when multiple people are present, a person is likely
to receive help. There are many reasons for this to occur. For example, diffusion
of responsibility occurs - people assume that, since there are other people
around, one of them will take responsibility. It is important to note that there
are situations in which people will respond even in groups and ones in which
the bystander effect does not occur. For example, when a situation arises in
which it is so obvious that person needs help, when there is absolutely no doubt,
then groups are as likely to help as individuals. To see examples of this, check
out the research by Latane and Darley that is in most Introductory Psychology
Books.
9. Lots of times groups make really bad decisions. Just
think of mass suicides like the Heaven's Gate situation from a few years ago,
the Bay of Pigs disaster, and more. One factor that may lead groups to make
such bad decisions is that a group may become so cohesive that individual and
critical thinking seem to vanish. This type of behavior is called:
group polarization
social loafing
groupthink
in-group bias
Correct Answer = groupthink
Explanation = groups should make better decisions than
groups. After all, in a group, one person or a few people who are going to do
something wrong or bad can be monitored and corrected by the other members of
the group. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes, members of the group
become more concerned with doing what the group as a whole wants and not going
against the group than with doing what is right. When this happens, groups can
make some very bad decisions. There are other causes of groupthink including
isolation, biased leadership, and decisional stress. But since the question
addressed only cohesiveness, let's just leave it at that.
10. Most research on attraction, loving, and liking has
indicated that people who are _____ to you, are the ones you are most likely
to end up liking (and/or loving).
aggressive
thin
open and share personal feelings
near or close to you (proximity)
Correct Answer = near or close to you (proximity)
Explanation = there are some obvious reasons to this such
as, in order to like or love someone, you have to at least see them, meet them,
or cross paths somehow, and in order for this to occur, you must be near or
close to the person at some point. Beyond this, go back to the question earlier
about people liking things we are familiar with more than things they are not
familiar with. When we are close to someone in proximity, it is possible that
we become more familiar with them, and thus end up liking them more. For example,
research has shown that the people who live near the stairwell or elevator in
an apartment building are the ones who people seem to like the most. Is it because
all of these people are so much nicer than people who don't live near the stairwell,
or is it because they live in a place where people go all the time? People who
live near the stairwells live in the area with the most traffic, and are more
likely to come in contact with others, and therefore, are more likely to be
liked. When you go to class, take a look around. There is a chance that these
are the people you will become friendly with and like.